Neon Desert draws thousands of music partiers

Lauren Ramirez, right, and Monique Khoury, left, dance no the lawn at Cleveland Square as "The D.A." played at the Neon Desert Music Festival Saturday. The festival continues today with music starting at 4pm. (MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES )

The roads and sidewalks trembled as the base of the music bounced off of the buildings and settled into the ground.

With every beat and with every soul-shaking song, the crowds grew louder and their cheers echoed through the streets of Downtown.

Thousands flocked on Saturday to the fourth Neon Desert Music Festival at Cleveland Square Park.

Wearing neon shirts, bright nail polish, and colorful outfits, music lovers of different genres gathered at six different stages to dance, bob their heads and pump their fists.

The two-day festival, which will end today, includes a line up of more than 20 artists ranging from hip-hop, electronic, Latin, Indie and rock.

Included in the lineup are 2014 grammy award winning electric music producer and DJ, Zedd; grammy award nominee Wiz Khalifa, MGMT and Calle 13, who are headliners for the festival. Zedd and MGMT will perform at the festival today.

With such a charged lineup, Zach Paul, key organizer of Splendid Sun Productions, said he expects about 15,000 people per day at the festival — an increase from years past.

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"Ticket sales have been better this year than they have been in the past," Paul said. "The line for walk up (tickets) is crazy right now. The bands are what's bringing people in — Wiz Khalifa, MGMT, Calle 13, Capital Cities, Zedd, Panteon, Bloody Beetroots, Method Man — those guys."

Paul estimated that about 10,000 to 12,000 people attended the festivals in other years.

The lineup was what attracted many festival-goers like Marvin Hill and his family who made it a point to attend this year to support the artists and see GTA, Classixx, and Capital Cities.

"This is growing and we are having better events and a better social scene and we need to support that," Hill said. "I came out here for the people and the party. It's an experience and it's exciting."

Lauren Ramirez and Monique Khoury, who both wore flowers in their hair, went to see Capital Cities, MGMT and Wiz Khalifa.

"I was kind of skeptical the first year it was offered in El Paso," Khoury said. "But it's pretty good so far and every year it gets bigger and more bands are being brought in."

As GTA performed at the Budweiser stage, hundreds crammed onto the grassy area of Cleveland Square Park. Without any room to see, Erik Lilly put up a hammock on a pole and a tree and watched GTA perform.

"The view up here is pretty awesome," Lilly said smiling. "I've been going to festivals for 20 years now and this just works."

The festival will continue today from 4 p.m. through 1 p.m. Doors open at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at the door for $90; $250 for VIP pass; parking is available at Mills Building, Union Plaza and Convention Center.

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